Gates shows Microsoft ‘TouchWall’ prototype

At Microsoft’s CEO Summit in Redmond this morning, Bill Gates showed a prototype called TouchWall, which the company described as a vertical version of its Microsoft Surface tabletop computer. Gates gestured across the screen with his hands to browse digital files on the screen, using a companion software prototype that the company calls Plex.

The company says the technologies are research projects at this point, and it’s not talking about any plans to turn them into commercial products. That’s probably a good thing. Like many prototypes, it appears this one could use more work. Gates had a hard time getting the screen to respond at first, but eventually it started to work.

To get a sense for what TouchWall and Plex look like, here’s an image from Microsoft that shows Russ Burtner, a user experience designer in the company’s Office Labs group, using the technology.

The annual CEO Summit is in its 12th year. Microsoft says more than 115 chief executives are attending this year, but it keeps the identities of nearly all of them under wraps. We know that Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is here, as is former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. (Microsoft also gave out the names of presenters such as Michael Kinsley, Maria Bartiromo, and Thomas Friedman.) Reporters at the event in Redmond are put in a separate room to watch a video feed of Gates’ speech that ends when the Q&A portion begins.